and I love her [beatles]

pm • THREE SUMMER DAYS

Instead, she takes walks, buys new records, spends time with her brother. He's come back home to London since the news broke. Together they visit their favorite places, all the historic houses and buildings that have stood for centuries, that will soon cease to exist.

It's her last week when she receives a call from Paul. She has no idea who it might be when she answers it.

"Hey, Yaz," he says softly through the phone. It's a wonder that he still has her number. She lost his awhile back; his number is leaked so often to the public, he was constantly having to change it.

For a moment she pauses, breath catching in her throat, and wonders what to say. She settles with his name, something so foreign and familiar, and breathes it out. How long has it been since she last heard his voice? No vinyl could do it justice.

"Paul. It's so good to hear from you." Wrapping the phone cord around her finger, she rests her wait against the wall. "How have you been, love?"

It's strange. They used to talk so much. Yasmine has spent hours in this very spot, listening to him talk about the concerts and the fans and how much he missed her. They would laugh, he was always so funny. Her heart is heavy thinking of those easy days when love had been enough for the both of them, when their future together had still been a possibility.

"It's been difficult," he admits. He sounds hurt, tired, so unlike the boisterous Paul she remembers. The end days has that kind of affect on people. "I need to see you," he says, not wasting a moment on polite conversation.

I need to say goodbye, is what she knows he means. She blinks quickly as tears prick her eyes. Yes, it has been difficult. For the both of them.

For a moment, she hesitates. She's not sure if it's the right thing to do. She's not sure it won't only hurt her more. But even after everything, she trusts Paul. And she misses him too much to deny either of them this last chance.

Gripping the phone tighter in her hand, she finally asks, "When?"

He hums and her heart races. "No time to waste, I suppose."

. . .

They meet up three days before the end of the world, both holding a bottle of wine. It's not easy, but she manages to sneak her way into his hotel room without the fans noticing. Yes, the world is ending and the fans are still obsessed. Yasmine would probably go sooner than expected if they got their hands on her.

She barely has a moment to take him in before he ushers her inside. It's been ages since they've seen each other. He looks a little older, a little healthier. She wonders how she's changed and she wonders if he even notices.

It's a little awkward at first as they're reintroduced to each other. They drink their wine, tell inside jokes that they haven't heard in ages, ask about their new lives. As they fall into steady conversation, they drift closer to each other, as if gravity is pulling them in. At one point, she feels their knees begin to brush together, his arm behind her back. All of a sudden, they're seventeen again, love struck children too shy to make a move.

Paul coughs and pulls back, reaching for the one thing that has remained a constant throughout his life: his guitar. "There's this song I've been wanting to finish before..." he cuts off, almost embarrassed that he slipped and acknowledged reality. He doesn't have to finish for Yasmine to understand; it's a song he wanted to finish before the end, while he still had time.